Locked at 59-59 in unfinished fifth set of round one, Nicolas Mahut and John Isner's 10-hour epic is longest-ever official tennis match recorded
Tennis history was rewritten at Wimbledon yesterday as Nicolas Mahut and John Isner shattered the record for the longest-ever match ” and still could not finish.
A string of tennis records were blown away as the players came off court at 59-59 in the final set, having slugged it out for around 10 hours when play was suspended as they ran out of daylight.
"Nothing like this will ever happen again, ever," said an exhausted Isner, the American 23rd seed.
Tennis fans packed out the 782-capacity Court 18, with people lining the roof of the Wimbledon broadcasting centre several deep, and straining to peer through any gaps they could to catch a glimpse of the epic match.
The unfinished fifth set itself was longer than the previous longest match ever played. That match took six hours and 33 minutes. The shattered record was set at the 2004 French Open, when Fabrice Santoro beat fellow Frenchman Arnaud Clement 6-4, 6-3, 6-7, 3-6, 16-14.
Isner had match point at 59-58, but Mahut fired down an ace to take it back to deuce, before going on to win the game. At 59-59 and 9:10pm (2010 GMT) with the light fading fast, match officials tried to suspend play, though Isner wanted to carry on. Spectators yelled "We want more".
"Ladies and gentlemen, due to darkness, play is suspended," the umpire announced.
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